WARREN GATLAND has warned his Wales stars they will have to go through “pain and agony” at a gruelling training camp to get them in tip-top shape for the World Cup.

The Wales coach heads to Poland with his players at the beginning of next month for the first of two punishing regimes designed to get the squad in peak physical condition before September’s showpiece tournament.

And Gatland declared there will not be any five-star treatment for his team at the Polish Olympic training centre in the forests of the remote village of Spala.

His 45-man squad, named immediately after the 31-28 defeat against the Barbarians last week, will be pushed to the limit as the tough Kiwi lines up triple daily training sessions for his World Cup hopefuls.

“The first camp is going to be very physical, with players training two or three times a day in the gym and out on the field,” said Gatland.

“There will be a lot of fitness staff going and the players are going to find it tough.

“I’ve been there a few times before with Ireland and Wasps. We got some great results from it and the players will work really hard.

“When you have been there and you go through some of the pain that is out there it develops that mental toughness that you are looking for.

“Hopefully there will be a few memories from the camp the players can look back upon and draw from at the World Cup.

“If we’re under pressure in matches or hammering away towards the end of games, they will be able to turn to each other, push each other further and say, ‘Remember the agony we went through in Poland and how hard we worked?’”

The Welsh squad make their first visit to Spala, a village with a population of just 400, on July 2, with the second ‘boot camp’ organised for July 18.

Gatland must axe 15 players from the summer training squad by August 22, when the Wales coach will officially reveal the 30 men who have made the plane to New Zealand.

And the performance and attitude of his men during the two visits to Poland are likely to have a huge impact on selection, as well as performances in the final three warm-up games against England, twice, and Argentina.

The Spala Olympic centre is a far cry from the luxury Gareth Jenkins’ Wales experienced ahead of the 2007 World Cup at their training base in La Baule, France.

The class of 2011 can look forward to hard beds and basic canteen food, with superstar treatment completely off limits.

Matthew Rees and his team will also be using advanced cryotherapy technology twice a day to aid muscle recovery.

The likes of Shane Williams, James Hook and Gavin Henson will enter liquid nitrogen-cooled cryogenic chambers, where temperatures will drop as low as minus 110 degrees celsius, and the only protection from frostbite are socks, gloves, mouth and ear protectors.

Gatland hopes the two boot camps will aid team bonding and develop players with the mental strength needed for a successful World Cup campaign.

“It is a fairly basic place, although the facilities for sports people are brilliant,” he said.

“It’s not a five star luxury hotel, but the rewards should be excellent.

“We’re looking for honest, hard-working people who are prepared to put their bodies on the line. Those are the characteristics of a good World Cup tourist – someone who is selfless.

“There are some people in the squad who are definitely like that, particularly some of the youngsters who are displaying those kind of attributes.

“They are the future of Welsh rugby, which is exciting.

“If you supplement that with the quality of some of the experienced players, I think we can do very well at the World Cup.”

Gatland will also take his players on an emotional visit to the former Nazi concentration camp at Auschwitz at some point during the two visits, with the Wales coach keen for his players to expand their experiences beyond rugby.

“That is something you must do if you are in Poland,” Gatland insisted.

“We will go down to Krakow and spend some time at Auschwitz.

“I’ve been lucky enough to be there a couple of times and it is a very moving experience.

“I think that is something we need to do on one of our days off.”

The next three months will be the largest period of time the Welsh coaching staff have enjoyed with their players since Gatland took over in 2008.

And he believes he has the time to get things right after some disappointing results last season, culminating in the defeat against the Baa Baas last weekend.

“The next couple of months are so exciting for me because it is going to seem like dealing with a club side,” he said.

“We’re getting a pre-season together and we can really drive down into the detail that you can’t do when we’ve only got a week or so together.

“We can eliminate mistakes and we will get the chance to adapt and change our game and work on things.